report out of Taiwan saying that Sony is preparing a version of its PSP with a whopping 8GB of built-in flash memory.
"According to market sources, Sony plans to release a version of its PSP (PlayStation Portable) using NAND flash from Samsung Electronics in the second half of this year," read the article. "Although recent reports stated that Sony would opt not to use NAND flash in the next version of its PSP, and would instead use a microdrive, the sources indicated that Sony was stalling to negotiate better pricing from Samsung."
To Sony fans, a PSP with 8GB of flash sounds almost too sexy to bear. Besides being able to play games and UMD movies, the device would be able to store twice the audio files of a 4GB iPod Nano. Furthermore, an 8GB PSP would let owners pack a large amount of video content onto the device. That capability could potentially boost Sony's Connect download service, which will offer PSP-optimized video content and games when it relaunches next month.
However, there are two big reasons why Sony wouldn't want to release an 8GB PSP. The first reason is that it wants to prop up the PSP's proprietary UMD format, which it spent tens of millions creating.
The second obstacle to an 8GB PSP is price[...] an 8GB PSP would cost at least $550
One theory is that the Digitimes.com article's reference to "8GB of NAND flash" is a typo. It would be more plausible that Sony would release a PSP with 8Gbits, or 1GB, of memory built in. Besides limiting the PSP's storage capability--and therefore its capacity for piracy--it would keep the device's cost low.
"According to market sources, Sony plans to release a version of its PSP (PlayStation Portable) using NAND flash from Samsung Electronics in the second half of this year," read the article. "Although recent reports stated that Sony would opt not to use NAND flash in the next version of its PSP, and would instead use a microdrive, the sources indicated that Sony was stalling to negotiate better pricing from Samsung."
To Sony fans, a PSP with 8GB of flash sounds almost too sexy to bear. Besides being able to play games and UMD movies, the device would be able to store twice the audio files of a 4GB iPod Nano. Furthermore, an 8GB PSP would let owners pack a large amount of video content onto the device. That capability could potentially boost Sony's Connect download service, which will offer PSP-optimized video content and games when it relaunches next month.
However, there are two big reasons why Sony wouldn't want to release an 8GB PSP. The first reason is that it wants to prop up the PSP's proprietary UMD format, which it spent tens of millions creating.
The second obstacle to an 8GB PSP is price[...] an 8GB PSP would cost at least $550
One theory is that the Digitimes.com article's reference to "8GB of NAND flash" is a typo. It would be more plausible that Sony would release a PSP with 8Gbits, or 1GB, of memory built in. Besides limiting the PSP's storage capability--and therefore its capacity for piracy--it would keep the device's cost low.
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